1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a membrane-electrode assembly for a mixed reactant fuel cell and a mixed reactant fuel cell system including the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a membrane-electrode assembly for a mixed reactant fuel cell that can smoothly and evenly supply a fuel and an oxidant into catalyst layers of the membrane-electrode assembly, and a mixed reactant fuel cell system including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fuel cell is a power generation system for producing electrical energy through an electro-chemical redox reaction of an oxidant and hydrogen that is contained in a hydrocarbon-based material such as methanol, ethanol, or natural gas.
Types of fuel cells include a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) and a direct oxidation fuel cell (DOFC). The direct oxidation type fuel cell includes a direct methanol fuel cell that uses methanol for a fuel.
The polymer electrolyte fuel cell has an advantage of high energy density, but it also has disadvantages of carefully handling of hydrogen gas and the requirement of accessory facilities such as a fuel reforming processor for reforming a fuel such as methane, methanol, natural gas, and the like in order to produce hydrogen from the fuel.
A direct oxidation fuel cell has a lower energy density than the polymer electrolyte fuel cell, but it has advantages of easy handling of a fuel, being capable of operating at a room temperature due to its low operation temperature, and no need for additional fuel reforming processors.